A/N: Kind of a chapter to set up things to come, but a bit of everyone, too. I've been trying to think of a song to use for Melina and Alec to dance to, but haven't come up with anything yet. If any of you lovely readers have suggestions, put it in your review or send me a PM. If you follow me on tumblr, you can message me there, too.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy, and please review :)

Disclaimer: Only my OCs are mine.


Walking out of rehearsal with Melina and Tasha, Holly was the first to notice the dark-haired boy standing near the doors. Catching his eye, she sent him a questioning look. When he shook his head, she knew he meant to surprise his girlfriend.

"Come on, Tasha, a bunch of us are heading over to my Uncle Hiram's restaurant for some much needed food. You should come with so we can discuss dress ideas," Holly said, moving to loop her arm through Tasha's.

Having been the one to talk Marina into teaching one of Alec's classes, Tasha smiled when she saw him standing there. She caught his mouthed 'thank you' as she walked away with Holly, making her smile even more.

"Tell me all of your ideas, I have none and haven't had a chance to talk to Mama about it yet," she said as she walked away with Holly, leaving Melina and Alec alone.

Not having noticed her boyfriend, Melina took a step in the same direction Holly and Tasha had gone when she felt someone grab her hand. Turning, she couldn't help but smile when she saw Alec standing there.

"I thought you had to teach that dance class this afternoon?" she asked as she hugged him.

"Marina and I switched times. Tasha convinced both Marina and our mother that it would work out just fine, which it did."

"You wouldn't happen to have food in your car, would you?" Melina asked with a laugh. "I'm starving."

"As a matter of fact, I do. I stopped by our favorite restaurant on the way here, since I came straight from the dance studio."

"You're the best," Melina said before leaning up to brush her lips with Alec's.

"I try," Alec responded with a smile, sliding his arm around her waist as he led her towards the exit.


"Where's Melina?" Rachel asked as everyone arrived at the restaurant.

"Probably with the other missing member of our ever-growing group," Jesse answered from his seat next to her.

"Right. Well, I'm glad they'll be getting some time to spend alone together. I could tell how much she was trying to distract herself from thinking about him leaving."

"I think she enjoyed our duet, though," Jesse remarked.

Rachel smiled as she nodded in agreement.

"I think she got a kick out of the two of you being competitive with each other, which shouldn't surprise her, but she hasn't known you two as long as I have," Holly told them. "I also shouldn't have been surprised that Rachel found someone who is just as competitive as she is."

"I know what you mean," Kurt agreed. "It was kind of a nice change to see them challenging each other instead of the rest of us for a little while, though."

"It was a fun way to get back into the swing of rehearsals, though," Dominic pointed out.

"It really was," Blaine agreed. "I'd kind of like to see her sing with Jack, though. They've never done that in rehearsal."

"I'll work on it," Rachel promised.

"Which means it'll happen sooner rather than later," Kurt added, earning a chuckle and nod of agreement from Jesse.

"What about Puck and Santana? We rarely get to hear them sing together," Holly suggested.

"Ooh, another good idea," Rachel agreed, reaching for her schoolbag so she could take out a pen and a piece of paper.

"No lists until after we're done eating," Jesse told her, grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together instead, knowing Rachel wouldn't let go of his hand.

"Fine, but if I forget my ideas, I'm blaming it on you," she told him with a good-natured pout.

"You won't," Jesse assured her. "You have a very good memory."

"Sometimes too good," Puck muttered.

"I heard that, Noah," Rachel retorted, earning laughter from the rest of the group at the table.


"Why do you look so sad?" Alec wondered as he and Melina lounged in her room after finishing their meal.

"I don't want you to leave," Melina whispered, her voice nearly breaking.

Moving closer to his girlfriend, Alec pulled her into his arms and held her tightly as he spoke.

"I don't want to leave either, Mel. If I could take all of my second semester courses from here, I would, but unfortunately, I can't. I can promise you that I will visit as often as I can, though."

"I'm tempted not to go to the dance, either; I just want to spend time with you."

"I think you'd regret not going. Besides, I don't leave until Sunday night. Did you go to the dances at your old school?"

Melina shook her head before she attempted to speak again, wiping the tears from her eyes as she did so.

"No. The boy I was dating thought he was too cool for them, and I didn't want to go alone, so I never went."

"All the more reason to go now. You told me yourself that the friends you've made here are the best friends you've ever had. Plus, I told you I would go with you. I don't know how much you're into dress shopping and all that, but I know Marina had fun with doing that stuff with her friends."

"Did you go to the dances?" Melina wondered.

"I went to my senior prom because Marina wouldn't take no for an answer. We went with a bunch of friends, it was fun."

"You're being vague."

"I am not. It's the truth; you can ask Marina or Tasha if you don't believe me. I was never super-popular like Marina. We had some of the same friends, but I was more concerned with dancing and my grades. I've wanted to go to Juilliard ever since I found out about it; I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that."

"That's another thing I don't want to think about."

"Juilliard?"

"Yes. What if I don't get into either college? Then what?"

"Then you move to New York and pursue it anyway, maybe try again next year if that's really the route you want to go. You had me help you with your audition, though, so I'm sure you'll be fine."

Melina laughed, catching Alec's attempt to lighten the mood.

"That's true. It must be some kind of magical touch that it didn't have before," she joked.

"We'll have to wait and see….but, for the record, I think you'll get accepted to both, and Dominic will get accepted to both of his. You two will be able to go to Juilliard together like you want to."

"Well, I'm glad one of us is confident about it. Well, two, counting Holly, but still."

"Speaking of Holly and Dominic, what was up with your comment to his mom the other day?"

"I don't even really know where that came from," Melina answered with a small laugh. "I knew her tendency to judge someone before she gets to know them is what caused the drama between Holly and Dominic, and it made me mad. Holly's great. She makes Dominic happy, and she's been a really good friend to me. She also told me that our friendship is in no way affected by her relationship with Dominic…which was nice to hear, to be honest."

"That's how she's always been," Alec told her. "If you let her get to know you, she'll be one of the best friends you'll ever have. I got the impression that Rachel is same way."

"She is. Everyone in the group is, really. They all kind of took me in and made an effort to get to know me. I was so confused by everything going on with my dad, and whether or not I'd be here for very long, but they immediately made me feel at home."

"Do you think you're happier here?" Alec asked her.

Melina thought for a moment before she answered.

"I thought I was happy with my dad, and I love him, don't get me wrong, and if I hadn't moved here, I don't know if we'd be together right now, but strictly friendship-wise, yes. Even my grades have improved, not that they were ever horrible, but still. I think I'm happier here, yes."

"You know, even when I go back to New York, you can always leave me a message or text me, or email me if we can't talk…and I promise to respond as soon as I can. Just because I'm going to be in a different state doesn't mean that we have to stop talking, or you can't talk to me about things."

"I know," Melina told him with a smile, "but thanks for the reminder."


"So," Rachel started as she took a seat on Jesse's bed. "When are you going to tell me what's on your mind?"

Jesse looked up from his homework to send his girlfriend a confused look.

"What makes you think something's on my mind?" he asked.

Rachel sent him a disbelieving look before she answered.

"We're open books to each other, remember?"

Jesse sighed, setting down his paper to sit next to Rachel on his bed.

"Your list of acceptable replacements kind of got me thinking….and I don't want to make it seem like I can't handle being the lead, because I can, but Bohemian Rhapsody is the song I've wanted to perform since before I even joined Vocal Adrenaline. I want to make sure I perform it to the best of my abilities. I want it to be a performance to go down in show choir history."

Rachel smiled sympathetically at her boyfriend as she reached for his hand.

"I understand, and I'm sure my Mom and Jack will, too. I also want you to know that my Mom wouldn't have given you that song if she didn't think you could knock it out of the park. She knows you can do it. I know you can do it. If you want more time to concentrate on it, just talk to her about it. As long as you aren't thinking of giving up your part in our duet, I support you completely."

Jesse chuckled at Rachel's hidden teasing, but he was also grateful she understood him so very well.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Jesse told her. "I was thinking maybe we could turn the third number into more of a group number, sort of like what we did for the Invitational."

"I could see it working for that song. We could put Kurt, Santana, and Holly in charge of it, with our supervision, of course, since they seem to be the most enthusiastic about it."

"I like that idea. We'll talk to your Mom and Jack about it in the morning," Jesse agreed before changing the subject. "Are you finished with your homework?"

"I didn't have that much, so I have been for a while. I watched a movie with my dads, and we talked for a bit. It was nice to be able to have them both to myself for a little while," Rachel answered.

"It sounds like you had fun, then."

"I did. I'm actually kind of tired now, though. I came to get you so we can start our routines."

"I just need to put my homework away, and then we can do that," Jesse promised, leaning over to brush his lips with Rachel's before reluctantly letting go of her hand and walking over to his desk to put his homework away.


The next day, as she looked over her lesson plans for the week, Shelby heard a knock at the door. Looking up, she was surprised to see Jesse standing there. What surprised her more was that he looked uncharacteristically nervous.

"Do you have a minute to talk?" he asked.

"Of course," Shelby answered. "You can shut the door if you'd like."

Once he had followed Shelby's suggestion, Jesse took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"It's about Regionals."

"What about them?" Shelby wondered.

"You know how much performing Bohemian Rhapsody means to me, how long I've been waiting for you to let me do it. I don't want to mess that up. I refuse to make a fool of myself on stage."

"I'd never let you get on that stage if I thought that was a possible outcome, but I know it's not. Are you saying you want to sing a different song?"

"No, not at all. It's just…the lists Rachel and I made…they got me thinking. We were talking about it last night, too. We were thinking about how much Holly, Kurt, and Santana like the third song. Rachel wants to keep some of her solo parts, but we both think the team would benefit from turning it into more of a group number, sort of like the Invitational. I want more time to work on my solo, to make it the best it can be. I think if we did it that way, the team wouldn't be losing out on anything, either."

Shelby thought for a minute before she spoke again.

"I think that could work. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but we'll try it. I'll run the idea by Jack and see what he thinks, too. Blaine could always take over your parts if re-arranging things a little doesn't work."

"I don't want to make it seem like I can't handle being the male lead…" Jesse started to say, only to be cut off by Shelby shaking her head.

"You're not. I understand where you're coming from. I gave you that solo for a reason, Jesse. You've earned it, and I know you can pull it off. I'd also much rather have you come to me now and tell me this than a week before the competition."

"I think we've had enough drama in the first few months to last us the rest of the year."

"I agree."

"Thanks, Shelby. For listening, for understanding."

"You're welcome," Shelby told him with a smile. "How have the first few days back been going?"

"Everything is fine, you can stop worrying," Jesse answered, though he was smiling, too.

"You know telling me that isn't going to make me stop."

"I know…and it's nice to know that you care."

"Is there anything else on your mind you want to talk about?" Shelby asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"I've been trying to keep myself busy so I don't think about whether or not I'm going to get accepted to college. I mean, being accepted at either one would be great, but what if neither one accepts me?" Jesse revealed.

"I'm positive you'll be accepted at both, or at least one or the other. They'd be foolish to pass on your talent. Either way, though, you made it father than a lot of people. Not everyone gets to audition for Tisch or Juilliard, let alone both. You should be proud of yourself just for that."

"Not everyone can call themselves four-time National champions, either," Jesse reminded her, making her laugh.

"That's true. You've also found love, which is another thing that not everyone can say they've been lucky enough to find."

"Speaking of that love, I better go find her before she starts worrying too much," Jesse said as he stood.

"You can let her know what I said about Regionals, I'm sure she's wondering about it."

"Most likely. Thanks again, Shelby."


"Where'd you run off to?" Rachel asked as she saw Jesse approach her locker. "You weren't outside my science class like you said you would be."

"I know, I'm sorry," Jesse apologized. "I got out of my history class early, so I went to talk to Shelby about Regionals."

"What did she say?"

"She said we were going to try the idea today and see how it works. If it doesn't, Blaine will take over my parts. I think it'll work, though."

"I'm sure it will, too," Rachel agreed as she shut her locker door. "Now, are you going to take me to lunch or let me starve?"

Jesse chuckled as he slid his arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"I just need to stop at my locker and then we'll go. Do you think you can survive that long?"

"I suppose," Rachel answered with a dramatic sigh.


"You're late, cousin," Holly said as Rachel and Jesse joined her and the rest of their friends at the lunch table.

"That's my fault," Jesse told her. "I was talking with Shelby, and then I needed to stop at my locker."

"Talking to Shelby about what?" Kurt wondered.

"Regionals. You'll see at rehearsal today."

"Can you at least tell me if it's good or bad?"

"I think you'll approve," Rachel answered before Jesse could say anything else. "In fact, I'm positive you will."

"I'll try not to worry too much, then."

"None of you need to worry," Puck added. "Berry isn't freaking out or making a bunch of lists. Everything is fine."

"You know, you're lucky you're a fellow Jew, Noah," Rachel retorted, causing the rest of the group to laugh.


"Are you going dress shopping with us on Saturday?" Rachel asked Melina as they waited for rehearsal to start.

"Probably. I found a dress I want, but I don't think I'll be able to get it in time."

"What dress is that?"

"It was my Grandma Harris'. She and my grandpa live in Greece, though. That's a little too far away to get the dress from."

"Maybe you can find something similar. Something that seems like it was inspired by the same style as that dress. Do you have a picture?"

"At home. I was looking through some old phGoto albums with Alec yesterday and I found the picture of my grandmother in the dress."

"You should bring it with on Saturday. I'm sure Kurt could find something for you. He is our fashion expert, after all."

Melina smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I'll do that. Thanks."

"You're welcome. How's that handsome boyfriend of yours, anyway?"

"He's great. He and I talked for a while last night, about anything and everything. I'll be sad to see him leave, but I feel more confident about our relationship. I still can't believe he picked me sometimes."

Rachel smiled at her friend before she spoke again.

"I know the feeling. I've never had a lot of friends, not until I moved here. Then I met Jesse, and we started spending a lot of time together. I knew there'd never be anyone more perfect for me than him. As Noah likes to point out, he thinks my lists are cute."

"Well, I think you two are perfect for each other. You've both been such great friends, too. I was so scared that I wouldn't make any friends. I mean, I'd always have Dominic, but he's my brother."

"When I made the decision to move, to transfer to Carmel, I didn't know any of my other friends from Lima would be here as well. I fully expected to have to make all new friends."

"What made you decide to transfer?"

"Carmel is known for their arts program, and Vocal Adrenaline is quite well-known in the show choir world. I didn't want to make my dads feel like I didn't want to be with them, so I never asked about transferring. When my Mom offered to let me live with her so I could transfer, I couldn't resist any longer. It turns out my dads were going to talk to me about transferring anyway. I know your transfer wasn't exactly your choice, but I'm really glad you're here."

"Me, too," Melina agreed with a smile.


Walking into her room after rehearsal on Friday, Melina was surprised to see a package sitting on her bed.

"Were you expecting something?" Alec asked, following her into the room.

"No," Melina answered as she looked at the address on the package. "It's from my Grandma Harris."

"Well, open it."

As she did as her boyfriend has suggested, Melina was surprised to find the dress she had been admiring ever since she'd laid eyes on it as well as a note.

"What does the note say?" Alec wondered.

"It says that my dad told her how much I wanted to wear the dress, and she couldn't think of anyone she'd rather have wear it. She also gave me a list of pictures she wants. I don't know how my dad would have known, though. I didn't mention it to him when we talked."

"Did you mention it to your mom?"

"No…at least I don't remember doing it."

Alec thought for a moment before he came up with the answer.

"Holly. You told Holly," he guessed.

"That I did do," Melina told him. "She probably told Dominic, who would have recommended she talk to my mom. My mom probably called my dad, who then called my grandma. It had to be expensive to get this here so soon."

"It sounds like your dad is really doing whatever he can to show you that he's sorry and he cares."

"I already know both of those things. Don't get me wrong, I love that I'll be able to wear the dress, but I didn't need him to get it for me in order to show me those things."

"I think he knows that, too, but he wanted to do this for you."

"I'll have to call him later and thank him. I still need shoes and accessories, though."

"You can buy those tomorrow when you go shopping with Kurt and the girls."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to look extremely handsome in your suit to top how I'm going to look in this dress," Melina teased.

Alec laughed as he pulled her into his arms.

"You'll look gorgeous, I have no doubt," he told her as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Are you sure that's how you want to spend your last weekend here?" Melina asked.

"I'm sure," Alec assured her. "I get to see you all dressed up, and besides, you know I wouldn't deny you that memory. Especially not since I can tell how much you're looking forward to this. We'll give Rachel and Jesse a run for their money for best-looking couple."

Melina laughed as she moved closer to her boyfriend.

"I look forward to it," she told him, leaning up to press her lips to Alec's.


"So, what do you think of the revised Regionals number?" Jack asked his fiancée as they walked into the music room.

"I actually like it more than I thought I would. Kurt and Santana really took the idea and ran with it."

"Isn't that what you encourage them to do? Bring their ideas to life?"

"It is," Shelby confirmed. "I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly. It's like they were planning it."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were."

"What do you think about it?"

"I'll admit that I wasn't sure about it at first, but now that I've seen it start to come together, I think it will be fabulous. I'm positive we'll leave the competition in the dust, but you'll have to top these performances at Nationals."

"Somehow, I doubt we'll have a problem with that," Shelby told him with a small laugh.

"Knowing these kids, I'm sure you're right," Jack agreed.


A/N 2: Anyone want to take a stab at the other songs in the Regionals set-list? ;)